TRIBOLOGICAL BEHAVIOR OF ALUMINUM COMPOSITES USING TAGUCHI DESIGN AND ANN

Abstract

In this paper is presented the tribological behavior of A356-based aluminum composites using Taguchi design. Testing of tribological characteristics of aluminum composites was done on a tribometer with block on disc contact geometry. Composite materials were obtained by compocasting. The orthogonal matrix L18 is used to form the experimental design using the Taguchi method. The tribological characteristics of the aluminum composite reinforced with SiC (A356/10 wt.% SiC) were compared to the base material A356 for three sliding speeds (0.25 m/s; 0.5 m/s and 1.0 m/s), three values of normal load (10 N, 20 N and 30 N) and sliding distance of 150 m under lubrication conditions. ANOVA analysis showed that the least wear has a composite material at a load of 10 N and at sliding speed of 0.25 m/s.